This summer we are focusing on one apartment complex in our community.  We started last week by surveying the tenants about their needs.  Each Wed. night we will have no church programming.  Instead we are taking everyone who shows up to the local school field for olympic style games.  I'm excited about tonight since it will be the first time for us. 

We know that many ministry opportunities will come from this.  I've even had families say they are coming when they normally don't during midweek.  We have made the format so simple so all they literally have to do is show up and PLAY! 

One the fourth Wed. of June & July we will be having a movie night for the apt. families in our fellowship hall.  Our goal is to have them become comfortable with the church & our families. 

From the surveys it was evident that some had very negative feelings toward "the church".  We are excited to take this opportunity on and have our kids with us.  I'm most excited about the kids as it is my first opportunity as a children's coordinator to see them in action .

If you would pray for us.  This is a new venture, but one we're praying opens doors not only with the apt. families, but also in the hearts of our church family.

Kate Radford
Children's Ministry Coordiator
Cypress Avenue Baptist Church

Well our first night was very interesting.  We have a group of 12 (including our pastor) who were in Ecuador for a mission trip.  So that left myself running the show.  I see many things that I could improve, but with something like this you never know what to expect.

The kids were at the park waiting for us to arrive.  We had a group set up games while some went to the complex & handed out fliers for the next week.  They also corraled any kids they saw hanging out.  Before we knew it, there were probably about 80 kids and 10 parents.  I was shocked .

I had planned it around an olympic theme so the first night was field olympics.  We did javelin, shotput, long jump, and some relays.  Due to the large amount of kids I wasn't expecting it was a bit chaotic. 

A praise was that our youth group (who are VERY difficult to get to serve) were somewhat participating.  I think as the time goes on they will get more involved.  We also had an amazing group of adults from the church (around 10) who spent their time just mingling among the parents. 

I'm very excited about next week.  First, I won't be the only one leading so I can focus on the kids.  We also expect a larger turnout.  I think we're attracting kids from the rest of the neighborhood as well as the complex.

Since you asked...some things to pray for:

1) Pray that we can meet the needs of the families.  They have been very open with us and I really want this to be fun, but to really reach out as well.

2)Pray for our youth.  One made the comment, "Well this is just white trash". WOW!  Pray for control of tongue.  I pray that this time of reaching out will allow them to see that's exactly who Jesus wants us to hang out with...those who are hurting.

Thanks for your prayers.  I'll keep you updated as we go on.  I have a feeling more church members will be getting involved as the summer goes on.  I think I'll be taking pictures and showing it sometime in the worship service to attract interest.  However I think word of mouth may beat my slideshow timing.

Have a great weekend!

Kate

Kate Radford
Children's Ministry Coordiator
Cypress Avenue Baptist Church

Just an update on Go For the Gold at the Gardens:

Week 2: Went ok.  We had the church family back from the mission trip.  However it was very hot.  We had about 1/2 the kids as before.  It did help a bit as it wasn't as busy and we were able to interact with the kids more on an individual basis.

Week 3: We had a movie night at the church and invited those from the apartments.  We watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  I was a bit concerned at 6:30 (when we were supposed to start) and there wasn't a soul in the building.  However I looked down the street and a mom was bring about 12 kids with her.  WOW!  I was so excited.  Not only did it attract families from the complex, it also brought out people who rarely attend midweek from within the church.  Total we probably had between 50-60 people. It was totally God's timing as well.  With all the smoke sitting in the Northern CA valley, we most likely wouldn't have been able to play outdoor games.

One huge blessing from this is that there is a family that has been consistently attending on Sundays due to the outreach we've done.  Each week in June there has been a new kid in one of our Bible studies from preschool to Pier 56.  It's truly amazing what God does when we don't plan.  As of the end of May our church had no midweek programs laid out.  When we let Him lead us into a ministry amazing things happened .  Imagine that... 

In His dance-

Kate Radford
Children's Ministry Coordiator
Cypress Avenue Baptist Church